


Past, Present and Future – The Epilogue

by falafelfiction, sapphire_child



Series: Past, Present and Future [2]
Category: Lost
Genre: Angst, Epilogue, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Sequel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-08-06
Updated: 2007-08-06
Packaged: 2019-01-15 05:23:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12314607
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falafelfiction/pseuds/falafelfiction, https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_child/pseuds/sapphire_child
Summary: An epilogue to Past, Present and Future.  In order to finally get all of his memories back, Charlie decides to try hypnotherapy. Beta-ed by both original authors.





	Past, Present and Future – The Epilogue

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Past, Present and Future](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12314538) by [sapphire_child](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphire_child/pseuds/sapphire_child). 



> And you thought it was all over! Well, actually this part was conceived and written by [](http://sapphire-child.livejournal.com/176008.html#)[**falafal_fiction**](http://sapphire-child.livejournal.com/176008.html#) (with some input from both of the original writers) and she asked Pace and I if we'd post it! So...have yourselves an epilogue!

[ ](https://www.flickr.com/photos/155122168@N03/36527337933/in/album-72157686884668124/)

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Claire asked tentatively. She squeezed Charlie’s hand reassuringly as they sat together in the waiting room. He might have looked calm but she could feel how clammy his palm was against hers.

Charlie shrugged glibly. “Well, hypnotherapy worked for you, right?”

Claire winced, remembering the experience.

“I think that’s what Libby was doing. She said that I was suppressing my memories. It was…” she paused, wondering whether to continue or not. She didn’t want to make Charlie panicky about his decision. “It was very frightening when they came back.”

Charlie forced a smile, feigning bravado.

“Bit like ripping off a band aid – best to just get it over with, eh?” He said lightly. “And if I can get my head straight then I’ll be all set for that operation on my leg as well.”

Claire smiled back, encouragingly. “You really want to go through with the surgery don’t you?”

Charlie sighed. “Not really, love, but it’ll be worth it in the long run. I want to teach Aaron how to play football one day.”

Claire squeezed his hand again. Desmond had come to visit them last night. They had sat down together in the living room and Charlie had asked his Scottish friend to talk him through all that had happened that day in the Looking Glass. Desmond had told the grim story four times over until Charlie had it all in his own mind – the women, the beating, the shooting, the keypad, the grenade, the flooding, the message he had scrawled on his hand before the water rose over his head. Claire had been in tears listening to all that he had suffered.

Charlie knew it needed to be done. There was only one piece missing now – what had happened to him _after_ the Looking Glass.

“We’re ready for you now, Mr Pace.”

Charlie nodded, throat dry and stood, grasping his cane tightly. He waved to Claire with his free hand as he left the waiting room and then limped into a dark room where soft music was playing. He was invited to lie down on a couch and then he shut his eyes and breathed deeply. He listened carefully to the hypnotist’s voice and allowed himself to be put under. And then, the memories that had been submerged in blackness were at last uncovered and brought into the light…

__

*

  
The first thing he remembered was a fist.

A fist that was slamming hard against his chest…a fist that was bruising his ribs and pummelling his heart. Charlie knew this feeling…it wasn’t the first time that he had been beaten back to life…

Water dislodged from his throat, spurting from his mouth like a geyser and raining down on his face. He spluttered and blinked his eyes…and this time…this time there was no Jack cradling him in his arms and telling him he was safe. There was no Kate weeping over him and stroking his hair. There was only a man with an eye patch and an evil smile looking down at him…

He didn’t understand it. This man was supposed to be dead . Then Charlie thought how he was meant to be dead as well.

He wished he were dead.

*

  
The next thing he remembered were the shocks.

“Who was the woman you were speaking to?” a voice demanded.

Charlie was strapped to a table. There were wires taped to his hands and feet. He was breathing heavily. Sweat was pouring from his brow.

“I…I don’t remember her name…”

He was telling the truth. Desmond had told him his girlfriend’s name, but he couldn’t recall it now. His memory was clouded and confused.

“What information did you give her?” the voice persisted.  
  
“I told her…” He smiled, deliriously, “…I told her we were alive.”

A surge of current shot through his arms and legs, shuddering through his muscles, piercing his brain and stabbing at his heart…

“Please! Please stop…”

It felt like being struck by lightning.

*

  
The shocks didn’t stop. Neither did the questions.

They went on for days…weeks…months maybe. He lost all track of time. The more they asked him the less he knew. He invented conversations between himself and this mystery woman just so he had something to tell them. Something that might hold off the shocks and the terrible convulsions…

After a while the questions ceased, but his long electrocution continued. Every day he was woken by the agonising current.

“You’re just torturing him for sport now, Mikhail…” said a voice. “If you’re done questioning him, then you should kill him.”

“This man is responsible for the breach of our security. He is the one who brought those people on the boat to our island!”

There was a hiss of breath through barred teeth.

“…death is too good for him.”  
  


*

  
Then he remembered a hand stroking his face and a cup of water being tilted against his lips. He spat and grimaced. He didn’t like having water poured into his mouth. It made him feel like he was drowning again.

Shaky fingers loosened the straps that held him down.

“Wake up, Charlie…you have to get out of here.”

It was a woman’s voice. He opened his eyes. A Korean lady was leaning over him. It took him a moment to remember who she was. Her pregnancy was showing now, but she didn’t look well. She was pale and haggard.

“Sun…what are you…?”

“I could hear you screaming from my room. I don’t have much time. They are going to be back any moment now…”

She hauled him upright. He gasped, his head spinning.

“I can’t believe you’re saving me…after I…”

She cut him off. “Desmond told us you sacrificed yourself so we could be rescued…I think I can bring myself to forgive you.”

He smiled weakly. Sun helped him to rise. His legs trembled beneath him. She led him down a passageway towards a door.

“Go…hurry…” she insisted.

“Aren’t…aren’t you coming with me?”

She shook her head. “There’s no point. I’m dead already…”

“You too, Sun?” He frowned. “What about Jin?”

She shuddered and began to weep.

“They killed him, Charlie, they killed him…”

He swallowed. “I’m so sorry.”

“A helicopter rescued Claire and Aaron. More helicopters are coming. Get back to the beach, Charlie. Get back to them!”

She hugged him, her tears falling on his shoulder. Then she handed him a pack and pushed him through the door.

*

  
The next thing he remembered was falling.

It was dark. He was lost, scared and disorientated. He didn’t know this part of the jungle. He couldn’t find anything familiar. He had just been staggering around blindly and then…then he had slipped…

…he had rolled and tumbled down a rocky slope. As he landed he felt his leg snap at the shin. His scream tore through the air.

When his senses returned he found he had fallen into a deep ravine. There was a stream running through it. There were small bushes with fruit growing on them. He opened the pack that Sun had given him. It was filled with oat bars.

He wondered how long it would be before this food ran out…how long it would take for his leg to heal so he could climb up…  
  


*

  
He couldn’t tell how long he lay at the bottom of the ravine, barely clinging onto life. Every time he blacked out Charlie thought he was dying. Then his body would fill with pain and hunger. His mind would fill with nightmares. He would wake up screaming though his throat made no sound.

All he had left were his memories. He tried to remember Claire’s face, her luminous eyes and her carefree smile. He tried to remember the sound of Aaron’s laughter and the rub of his fingers against his skin. But the dull pain in his leg was darkening his thoughts. Sweet memories of his loved ones exploded and then flickered away…like fireworks bursting in a starless sky.

When all his memories of them were extinguished, Charlie simply thought of how Claire and Aaron had been rescued.

His heart swelled and beat stronger.

*

  
He couldn’t remember how he escaped the ravine.

It must have been some long excruciating climb that had driven him even further out of his mind. Now he was hobbling through the jungle, using a piece of deadwood for a crutch. He dragged his broken leg behind him like a screaming child who refused to move. It was a struggle not to faint.

There came a roaring sound. The trees shook.

Charlie saw two people running through the jungle…a tall brawny man with slick sandy hair and a pretty slender woman with dark wavy hair. The woman halted and stared at him. She seemed to recognise him.

“Sawyer wait!” she cried. “Look there! Do you see him?”

The man stopped and gaped. Then he shook his head.

“That’s not Charlie, damn it!” he hissed. “Charlie’s dead. The smoke is just trying to spook us with visions. Don’t look at it!”

The man picked up a rock and threw it towards him. Charlie had no time to duck. The stone struck his temple. He fell back into the bushes.

There was more roaring and screaming…

…and then blackness...

*

  
Charlie lay on the underside of the bush. He drank the rain off its leaves. He clasped its berries in his hands and brought them to his mouth. He was nothing but a body and heartbeat now. His mind was empty. There was only one memory remaining. A voice echoing through his head, tormenting him…

“Get back to the beach. Get back to them.”

The voice wouldn’t be silenced until he obeyed.

*

  
He remembered the feeling of sand beneath his feet. Sand meant he had reached his destination. He had done as the voice commanded.

Now there were people rising from a campfire and rushing towards him. These must be the people that he needed to get back to.

He exhaled feverishly. His knees buckled and he fell in a dead faint. The last thing that he heard was a worried voice saying,

“My God, brother…you’re bloody alive!”

*

  
“Mr. Pace? Mr. Pace? Can you hear me Mr. Pace?”

Charlie’s eyes snapped open and he stared blankly at the ceiling, completely shock still.

A plethora of images were still pushing in from all sides and, to his horror, Charlie felt his lips begin to tremble. His hands began to spasmodically clench and unclench the upholstery of the couch beneath him, his breath was becoming short and panicked…

“Mr. Pace are you alright? I understand that sometimes regaining your memories can be a frightening…”

“Claire,” Charlie rasped, surprising even himself with the steadiness of his voice.

“...I’m sorry?”

 _“Claire.”_ Charlie repeated through gritted teeth, determined not to let a shred of emotion show through lest he break down completely. “Please – bring Claire. In here. I need to see Claire.”

“Mr. Pace…”

_“I need to see Claire. **Now.”**_

There was a pause, the sound of footfalls, and then the door opened and shut. Charlie said no more, but instead focused on the ceiling, on the feel of the upholstery beneath his agonisingly weak hands as they pummelled desperately into the foam. A low, keening noise was pushing up the back of his throat, begging to be released. After several minutes had passed, the door opened and shut again.

And then Charlie felt Claire unhook his hand from the sofa and twine it with hers. She was helping him sit up, she was enfolding him in her arms…

Charlie gave a long, shuddering sigh that rippled through his entire body and he leant into her embrace gladly, his forehead resting against her shoulder. And Claire didn’t say a word, didn’t ask Charlie to speak, she just held onto him as tightly as he was holding onto her and Charlie took in one final, shaky breath, and then finally let his tears fall.


End file.
